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Fine Tune Your Yelp Request

ReA few things to consider…

Trust

Moving companies have reviews, those reviews are written by the clients, whether they are organic or not is truly up in the air. I had one client tell me he only read the bad reviews, because they good reviews are already there. The bad reviews may tell you a bit more about what could go wrong with even the best of companies. That being said some people protest things they don’t like about a company, even if it’s not related to the quality of work. We have had one review that was from a man who didn’t even use our services, but gave us three stars? How does that work?Maybe he didn’t like our estimated price, but surly that doesn’t speak to our service. What seems expensive to one person may be very fair to the next. So the reviews are there, be sure to read a few and really understand if the negative ones even apply to your needs, and are there enough of them to substantiate not choosing that company. Check their other socail media accounts, Facebook, instagram, linkedin. Often you might find a more personal association.

Estimates

When asking for estimates from potential movers, you should always have a mover visit your home, to review everything you’re moving. ‘This provides a more accurate estimate. It’s also a way to ensure that the mover sees everything you’re moving so that at the end of the move, and during the quote process everything gets covered. Too often when scanning yelp, or filling out the form from the listed five star companies, people are just looking for a number. Well, the truth is this is your home, things you worked hard to have, and not only is this a chance to see a representative from the company, it’s also a chance to remind yourself, and the mover of important items or things like a washer and drier on the 3rd floor that may need special equipment to move. Most companies, if not all offer a free in-house estimate, some have video apps that can be done with out even having the estimator over to the house! Expecting a moving company to be able to give you a price with very little information, is like asking a mechanic to estimate your car repair with out seeing the problem. Also this gives you a chance to ask, do you have extra charges? will you service appliances?Or even, if they provide a packing service.

Location

There is a small form that yelp has began to offer which tells you to enter the zip codes your are moving from and too. This sometimes just isn’t enough, what if you live in an area a truck cannot travel too, or your in an alley location that will require a long carry. Does your apartment complex have a loading area? Does the storage unit have drive up access or is it inside a building? The more information the better. It will also help remind you that perhaps what looks like 3 hours worth of work, might actually take 6 depending on the location it self.

Trust us , there are plenty of locations in small towns with narrow roads, or big cities with limited parking and permits may be needed. Providing your mover with more then just the zip code insures a more accurate estimate.

Correspondence

Yelp has a great way of limiting it’s correspondence, it does allow you to leave your contact info. We have found most people do not leave an email or phone number. This is only leaving a very limited line of communication, and when you are picking out a mover it should be based on more then a two line reply with a price. Developing a relationship, perhaps sharing some photos, or even having a personal conversation is really key to making sure both parties understand the details. After all these are the people who will be in your home, handling your personal possessions. And lets face it, we don’t always notice when a certain app has a notification.

Details

Finally, if you are going to stick with using Yelp as your life line to a mover consider that you will need to be detailed in your answers. Any movers who do not have any questions…well it’s going to go one of two ways. One they will get you with a lot of extra charges, long carry, stairs, assembly, packing fees. Or, two, they are going to walk into your move blind and will only do the best they can, this usually causes delays and stress, which no one wants on moving day. As we speak I am reading a reply from a man who has a 4 bedroom house in storage, I have asked simple questions, what size is the storage unit? What part of said town are you moving too? The replies, where “I don’t know the size” and ” The street should fit a truck.” Have as much information as you can, I cannot stress this enough. It is all in the details, even with moving. If the script was flipped and the mover gave you a very blanket answer to every question you asked, how would you feel about that company? Moving is a personal thing, don’t be annoyed if a moving company wants to know more about the move, be happy they care enough to ask!